In A Perfect World
by RubyManhatten
Summary: My first dabble into fanfiction myself; comments and reviews are welcomed :  JISBON! Post season 3 finale. Jane's out of prison and is a little overwhelmed at the amount of female interest so develops an interesting coping mechanism... Can he keep it up?
1. Chapter 1

In A Perfect World I'm new to the world of fan fiction, and I thought I'd try my hand at it. This is my first one and any reviews/comments would be greatly appreciated :) Love, Ruby xx DISCLAIMER: Do not own in any way, shape or form; much to the dissapointment of my friend, Victoria. Chapter 1: Days like these are the ones we live for.

Teresa Lisbon sat in her office; content to just sit and listen to the day-to-day bustle of the CBI. No case, no hassle... Dream on... But just right now, that was how it seemed, and she was perfectly happy just to sit and listen... Oh, and fill out the paperwork that threatened to dominate her life. Can't forget that now, can we?

Just as she had a rhythm with those signatures on those pesky forms, enter Patrick Jane, "Good morning Lisbon!" he beamed whilst handing her a steaming hot cup of coffee made just the way she liked it. It was good to have him back after that stupid Red John case. "Get lost Jane. Haven't you fulfilled your 'annoying Lisbon' quota for this week?"

"That quota will never be filled." He whispered a he leant across her desk, closing the space between them, his hand coming dangerously close to hers.

Only then did she realise what he was doing. He was going to check her pulse. Her heart was in her throat already without unnecessary contact, not to mention that he didn't need to know that she could hardly see straight whenever he came near her. The 'Jane' effect, she called it. It frightened her, but she found is somewhat addictive.

Her heart fluttered and his hand brushed her wrist. She was so busted. "Uneven pulse, my dear Lisbon. It's quite surprising for you to lose your level-headed composure." He smirked and flashed her his megawatt grin. She would bet against any woman who said they were immune to the Jane effect. She was doomed. Forever imprisoned in her love for Patrick Jane.

Stop. She didn't love him, couldn't love him. He was already taken. Vanessa from counterfeiting, a match made in heaven. Well, visually at least. She had long blonde curly hair that hung in ringlets that trailed down her back, a decent tan and legs up to her eyeballs. Just Jane's type.

"Go away Jane, some of us have work to do. And by the way, that's a very disconcerting habit you have there, checking pulses." She quipped back; thank God her brain hadn't completely died and gone to heaven. "Only to you, Lisbon. After all, everything I do has a reason behind it. Method in my madness."

"Just go Jane." She wasn't up for the banter at the moment, after all being in close proximity of Patrick Jane is enough to throw anyone off kilter.

"Ok, if that's the way it is then!" He turned back towards her, smiled, and walked out of her office chuckling to himself.

What had he done now, other than stolen her heart, obviously, with those devilishly handsome looks. Mmmm, he looked good today, grey finely tailored 3 piece suit, baby blue shirt, the usual... Yup, still as delicious as ever.

Maybe, just maybe, one day in a perfect world, he'd be hers to keep forever.

Her pulse was racing. Perfect, just what he wanted. He could tell she was jealous of 'Vanessa' from counterfeiting. The reality was that 'Vanessa' was just a way of turning down women politely, as a defence so to speak, just during his recovery period after the Red John case. She didn't exactly exist. When Lisbon had asked to see a photo, he simply showed one of him and his late wife, the one he always kept in his jacket pocket, along with one of his daughter and one of them as a family, that was how it was.

Since the end of the Red John case had finished, he'd had far too many women fling themselves as him, despite his wedding ring remaining firmly in place, he needed some sort of defence. Unfortunately, to make this defence believable, he'd had to lie to Lisbon. If only she could know that Vanessa wasn't real; but it had to stay this way. He needed time; not to mention the CBI rules. Stupid rules and regulations. Rules are made to be broken right? It hurt him to think that if she ever found out she'd probably never trust him again.

At least the SCU never worked with counterfeiting, and besides they were rarely ever in the CBI building anyway; always doing some sort of fieldwork elsewhere. People usually took him at his word anyway. Nobody ever questioned the great Patrick Jane, probably out of fear that he'd blow all of their little office affairs out into the open if they didn't.

Why couldn't he just have a simple life? In a perfect world, he would have Lisbon, to keep forever. But like that would ever work out, leaving the question:

Did he want her enough to try?

"Boss. We've got one." Cho called as he came through her office door.

"Brilliant. Thank you Cho." She could be forgiven for the subtone of sarcasm in her comment; another case for Jane to muck up.

"Jane, get up!" she said as she kicked his couch. He looked good enough to eat. Stop that thought no Teresa...

"Ah, good afternoon Lisbon." Jane smirked as he sat up and stretched as he woke up from his cat nap. Oh no, how dare he look so good after dozing for hours?

"We've got one, now promise me you'll behave?" she almost pleaded. She was not going to beg Patrick Jane for anything, ever. The only reason she even dare to ask him to behave was because of a slight technicality with this next case. "It's a joint case with counterfeiting." Why them? Why her? Why him? Why them? Just her luck to end up working a case with Jane's girlfriend.

"What?" Jane looked startled and tried not to vomit at the thought that his bubble might be about to burst. "Ah yes, counterfeiting." He mumbled, trying to keep his cool. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this one?

Grace's face lit up at the statement, putting two and two together, but coming to a slightly happier conclusion. "Oh, does this mean we'll finally get to meet Vanessa? She looked so pretty from the photo you showed us. I can't wait!"

Doomed; he was doomed... 


	2. Chapter 2

In a Perfect World

Author's Note: I already had most of this written and typed up, hence the rapid update :) I'm sorry to say that the next few updates will not be anywhere near as fast as I have to type the whole thing on my phone due to my laptop dying (RIP, Jerry :'( ) but I hope I'll be able to update relatively quickly so as not to leave you hanging to long! I have to appologise for Lisbon being a little put of character in this chapter, Jane just sweeps her off her feet :P

Kourion: All I can say is it will most definately test them both ;)

Any typos and mistakes are mine, and I did write this at midnight last night so tell me if tree are any problems and I'll quite happily correct them!

DISCLAIMER: I've just checked, and no, I still don't own the mentalist :( shame.

Chapter 2: There's always one.

"Counterfeiting were meant to be here half an hour ago; where the hell are they?" Lisbon was more than a little irate at the punctuality of the other team; her attitude probably wasn't helped by the impending arrival of Jane's girlfriend. 'Civil, keep it civil Lisbon' she thought to herself. "Well, they're not here..." Jane said with a playful edge to his voice and lifted up the nearest rock to to the body, "Or here..."

"Oh Jane. Would you stop that? They've gof the info on the victim too!" she grumped.

A black SUV pulled up. 'Think Jane, think! Ahaaa, illness; that's why they can't meet Vanessa! A little cheesy, but no better excuse than one that's been trailed and tested'. Three people exited the vehicle and casually strolled towards the scene, files in hand. "None of them are Vanessa, Jane. Is she ok?" asked Grace, genuinely concerned for the non-existent woman. "She's, uhh, ill today. Got a, errr, headache and stomach bug, you know? That one going round the CBI?" spluttered Jane. "Oh no! I hope she gets better soon, I really want to meet her!" bless Grace, if only she knew...

"Jane... Jane? You coming?" Lisbon called. He didn't realise he'd been stood on his own about 3 metres from the body for nearly 5 minutes by now. "Does the vic..." Jane started. "Jason Michaels." interrupted Julie from the other team. "Umm, yes, ok. Well, whoever. As I was saying, does he have any close friends that we know of?" "None; he was a bit of a loose cannon." she snapped. "Bit like someone I know..." Lisbon mumbled under her breath. No doubt Jane heard that by the smirk that crep across his face as he tried to stifle a laugh. "Well, I think he does." Jane retorted back to Julie in his trademark 'I-know-something-you-don't' tone of voice. "No he doesn't." Julie was clearly offended by Jane's remark that her facts might be wrong. "Ummmm, yes he does." Jane replied matter-of-factly as he rocked back and forth on his heals, his hands in his pockets, standing at the head of the body. "I can assure you, Mr Jane, we have done a most thorough background check. He has none." Julie was now beginning to lose her temper now; Lisbon tried to bite back a smirk. "Would you mind just pulling up his sleeve and showing everybody what's under there, Julie?" Low and behold, on his wrist was a red dragon tattoo with the name 'Samuel Roduiguez' underneath. "I'll bet anyone here $100 that old Sam Roduiguez has a matching tattoo with Jason Michaels written underneath!" "Do you have any basis for this outragious remark, Mr Jane?" snapped a rather frustrated Julie. "Look at his other tattoos. They're all gang related or chains for the added 'tough guy' effect. That one, however, has a name below, it's coloured and intricate unlike the others." He then turned on his heals and walked off, nonchalantly brushing his arm and hand across Lisbon's waist, earning and involuntary shiver from his unsuspecting boss who was dumbfounded by Jane's recent speel and his actions. "I'm done until we find this Roduiguez guy. It was a friend of Roduiguez that did it." he called as he continued back to the SCU's SUV.

"Right then. My team will handle the murder, and your team will handle the counterfeiting connections, correct?" Lisbon took charge, desperate to to try and separate the feuding teams. "No, this murder is part of a circle of counterfeiting gang members, we have sufficient evidence to indicate it is this way. We'll handle the murder inquiry together." Lisbon's face fell as those last few words left Julie's mouth. "Have you ever solved murders before?" Lisbon gave a questioning glance to each of the members of the other team, each gave a vacant, shocked expression in return. "No, I didn't think so. So leave the murder to us. We'll call yo if we get anything. That'll be all." Lisbon snapped and walked in the same direction as Jane, rapidly followed by her team.

What was wrong with her? Must've been Jane's arm across her waist, made her incoherent for a few minutes. Damn Jane, but hey... Two can play that game Patrick Jane.

The team were quiet for the ride back to the CBI, all apart from the radio and Jane whistling along to whichever song he knew, or thought he knew as the case may be.

It was Rigsby who broke the silence, "So, when do we actually meet Vanessa, Jane?" Jane looks startled for a moment, horrified even, but then reassembled his usual calm facade before replying with, "You'll just have to wait and see, won't you Rigsby?" with an added smirk on the end for good measure. "Awwwh, come on Jane! The suspense is killing us!" he whined. Jane turned round to look at his fellow collegue from the front passenger seat and looked from Cho's deadpan expression to Rigsby, and back again and raised his eyebrow and gave a questioning look. " Well, maybe Cho doesn't show it, but he's just as keen to meet her. Right Cho?" he said, giving Cho a persuasive elbow to the ribs. "Yeah, yeah. I'm really eager to meet her Jane!" Cho replied with an edge of sarcasm earning a glare from Rigsby. "But really Jane, when?" Rigsby continued, ignoring Cho's comment. "When the time is right." was the reply he got from a rated shell-shocked Jane who rapidly needed to recover his nerve in the front seat. Seemingly satisfied with this response, the taller agent was silent for the rest of the journey, allowing both Jane and Lisbon to reflect on their 'troubles'.

Lisbon drove down the highway with an outer calm she did not feel, her eyes focussed on the road but her mind was somewhere else entirely. Why did he touch her waist like that? He already had a girlfriend and she was definitely NOT being the 'girl on the side'; not that Jane would ever do that. Would he? No, that was out of the question. Then there was the incident earlier in ther office, where he took her pulse as it raced along all because of him. Method in his madness was there? She could see the madness for sure, method was a little harder to find. It was so damn confusing. Teresa Lisbon never got confused; not unless it contained one curly haired consultant or emotions. And this had both.

Her mind took a dangerous turn then to Vanessa. What did Vanessa have that she didn't? Yeah, ok. She was pretty, tall, the very image of perfect; bet she even had the personality to match. I bet she never got angry, lost her temper or faltered in any way. Damn her. If only there was a way of getting rid of her without harming Jane. She would need a plan, a scheme. Her heart fluttered a little at the thought of her, Teresa Lisbon, scheming to seduce Patrick Jane, the object of her affections, and her eventual goal. She would put her plan into action soon. There's no better time than the present is there? 


	3. Chapter 3

In a Perfect World

Chapter 3: Spontaneous combustion

Author's Note: I wasn't expecting to be able tto complete this update for a while, but what can I say? I'm on a roll! :P Little bit of a cliffhanger here, if you want to know what happens next, REVIEW :) Much love to everyone who has reviewed already, I honestly thought that nobody would read anything that I wrote :) I send imaginary cookies to all you readers! ;)

DISCALIMER: I've looked in my post... Nothing from Bruno saying he gives me the rights to the Mentalist yet, so I still don't own anything :/ I can but hope!

Anyway, on with the story! Enjoy

Jane was sitting in the passenger seat next to Lisbon, his hand aching to touch her again, he willed the feeling to go away, but it refused. Now what was he going to do? People wanted to meet an imaginary person! There had to be some way to get out of this emotionally taxing situation and at the same time, secure Lisbon's heart. It was kind of new really; he hadn't expected to feel anything after Red John, but he did. Unfortunately he didn't realise until I was too late, he'd already set up Vanessa before he realised he loved Lisbon. Then there was the other complication, did she feel the same way? He was trying so desperately to find out, but every time the results were always compromised; like when he took her pulse, it was thundering along, but was it because of his proximity or was he provoking a childhood horror to be recalled in her memory. And when he touched her waist, he had to force himself to pull away then, but she froze. Was it because he'd scared her, or she thought it was an inappropriate gesture between friends? The anger that had exploded after too, was that because he touched her too? Or did Julie really annoy her that much? Lisbon was normally able to keep a civil tone, especially when talking to mere acquaintances. She was definitely impairing his judgement, but that was the challenge wasn't it? And everybody knows, Patrick Jane loves a challenge.

They'd pulled in at a station to get some fuel, otherwise they weren't going to make I back to Sacremento at this rate. Lisbon got out the SUV whilst the team remained seated; a comfortable silence filled the space.

Lisbon had finished filling the tank and opened the passenger door, earning a bewildered look from Jane. She 'casually' leant over his lap to reach her bag under the driver's seat, causing Jane's breath to catch in his throat as she ran her hand down his leg a little for 'stability' in a futile attempt to reach her bag. The team apeared to be blissfully unaware of the predicament up front and continued to chat amongst themselves.

Once he recovered from the initial shock, Jane leant over Lisbon, who was still sprawled across his lap, and reached just close enough for his fingertips to brush the bag.

For a few brief moments, the whole world froze. His chest pressed up against her back, his warm breath on her ear and the back of her neck making the hairs stand on end, his arm next to hers, hands almost touching. Lisbon turned her head around to see two twinkling blue eyes staring right back at her, their breath mingling for just a few short seconds. Her body flush against his in pursuit of a common goal. It all ended far too quickly for both parties. Jane stretched just a little farther and grabbed Lisbon's bag and handed it to her, like the gentleman he was. "Thank you, Jane." she said, looking a little flushed from their close encounter. Jane tried not to talk, giving a faint nod to aknowledge her thanks, as he committed the moment to memory, filing it away with all things Lisbon, a special place in his heart.

Back at CBI, Lisbon sat in her office with yet more paperwork still left over from the previous case. Normally, she would have done it by now but at the moment, her mind was elsewhere.

The incident at the station was the first part of the scheme: shock Patrick Jane. It was working well until he turned the tables on her and leant over her, covering her torso with his. She couldn't help but remember and relive the feeling of him against her. It felt so safe, so natural. At least that's one thing confirmed, no use denying it anymore. She loved Patrick Jane.

Thres more hours and she would be able to go home, just one stupid meeting to get out of the way first. Lisbon called the team to the big oval table at the back of the bull pen to give them a full briefing on the case with the material sent over from the other team. "It looks like a standard gang murder," she began," One victim, Jason Michaels, aged 25 died from 16 fatal stab wounds to the chest and abdominal area." She quickly glanced around; where was Jane? "Where's Jane?" she asked the team. They looked sheepishly at one another before replying with, "He's just behind you!". Jane chose that exact moment to brush past her and trail his hand along her back, feeling the muscles tense individually under his skilled touch. "Missing me were you, Love?" he asked with a playful smile on his face. "You're late!" Lisbon scowled, Van Pelt laughed causing Rigsby to snort whilst trying to stifle a laugh, Cho deadpanned, no changes there. She glared at the team which quickly told them she was in no mood for their childish behaviour, before returning to Jane. "If you ever call me 'Love' again I swear to God I'll-"

"You'll what Lisbon..?" Jane said cutting her off, making her blush violently and momentarily rethink what she was going to say. She wanted to say 'I'll kiss that smile right off your face you handsome ass' but she couldn't, so she said the next best thing, "I'll break your nose." which quickly ended that little spat. The meeting continued as per usual briefings, Jane sleeping, and Lisbon reciting the facts that most of the skilled agents already knew, but it had to be done anyway.

"Jane, you slept all the way through that, would you mind telling us what you know about the case now please?" Lisbon asked with an air of self-satisfaction that she might have finally tripped up the great Patrick Jane. "Ummm, errrr," he began as he yawned and stretched like a cat. "Victim, Jason Michaels, aged 25, got caught up in with the wrong people, no doubt due to girl trouble. His recent girlfriend has just passed away leaving him more than a little depressed. My guess is that he met his girlfriend through ol' Sam Roduiguez here as they were old school buddies. After her death, however, he tried to find Sam but couldn't, so he went to the next best place, his girlfriend's friend, who they clearly saw a lot of so I should think they knew each other quite well. Is that what you were looking for Lisbon?" Lisbon and the team just gawked at Jane who yawned again, still waking up from his nap. "I don't know how much of that is true Jane but we'll find out tomorrow. Let's pack up for tonight and I'll see you tomorrow morning at 9:00 sharp; we're going to find Roduiguez." Lisbon rapidly dismissed her team, feeling a little disheartened that Jane had, yet again, made her look a fool. Then a menacing smile spread across her face as she walked into her office. She was going to make him pay! 


	4. Chapter 4

In A Perfect World

Chapter 4: So near, but yet so far...

Author's Note: A monumental thank you to you if you're reading this ;) but an even bigger thank you to you if you REVIEWED! If you wanted to see Lisbon's plan unfold ;P oh, and there's a hiccup! Anyway, I'll shut up now. On with the story!

Love, Ruby xx

DISCLAIMER: Still don't own... I am saving though. Maybe Bruno will take my offer of £2.37 for the Mentalist...

The team arrived promptly the next morning and set to work. Cho was to go with Jane and Lisbon to see Roduiguez, Rigsby and Van Pet were to stay behind to do any checks and research they needed.

"I've got a bad feeling about this guy." said Rigsby after they'd left. "About this whole case to be honest. What do you think Van Pelt?" he looked over at Grace who seemed to digest the comment before replying with,

"It kind of does, but not it doesn't make me as suspicious as I am about Jane's girlfriend. I mean, doesn't it seem weird to you that she hasn't come to work for a few days now? Normally agents take the shortest amount of time off when their ill. Don't you think?" The taller agent was quite shocked by the relisation that maybe Jane was acting a little suspiciously, and it was really weird that Vanessa had never turned up. They'd met Cho's partner for God's sake! "I guess it is quite weird. He is acting quite strange as well when we ask about her, like yesturday when he didn't tell us that Vanessa wasn't going to be at the scene because she was ill, he only told us when she didn't turn up. It's like he didn't know, or he was making excuses for her not being there or something."

"Maybe Vanessa's not who we've been lead to believe she is. Jane doesn't have to be ashamed about who his girlfriend is infront of us right? We'll have to tell him later that it's ok he didn't pick Lisbon!"

"What?" Rigsby involuntarily added, more than a little confused by Van Pelt's comment. "You haven't noticed? Oh, it's obvious Lisbon likes Jane, and the other way round. Let's face it, secretly we've all had our hopes up on them getting together and maybe Jane knows it, we'll just have to tell him it's fine with us!"

"I'm not so sure that it's embarrassment Jane's worried about, he's hardley ever embarrassed. I think it's something more. Do you remember the way girls used to chat him up after the Red John case, then he got Vanessa and it died down? Maybe Vanessa's not real, maybe she was just a defence against the massive influx of female interest!" Rigsby seemed quite pleased with his analysis, whilst Van Pelt just stared at him, mouth agape , completely shocked at her fellow agentes revelation. "You really think she's a fake?" she asked, earning a nod from the male agent. "Oh wow!" she exlaimed. "That's one hell of a mess he's got himself into then isn't it? We need to find out for sure if she is real."

"I'm thinking sly background checks and a bit of poking at Jane, you in?"

"Of course!"Both agents seemed quite impressed and stunned at the thought that Vanessa may be a complet and utter rouse, a good one, but still flawed.

The journey to Roduiguez's was silent. Lisbon was wondering what to do next, with thoughts of Jane and the case, but mostly Jane whizzing around in her head. Jane was maintaining an outer calm, refusing to display the inner turmoil he was currently experienced. He needed to put an end to this soon, Vanessa was too much of a burden. Cho was reading a book in the back of the SUV when he got a text from Rigsby:

We think Vanessa's not real! What's your take? Are you up for finding out?

Rigsby

Wow, this was big news. If Vanessa was fake, then Jane was technically single, making him and Lisbon a possibility again. He pressed reply:

I'm up for it, would be a possibility. What do I need to do?

Cho

Arriving at the crime scene, the first thing Teresa Lisbon heard was a gun shot. Immediately drawing her gun, Cho doing the same, they slowly surveyed their surroundings with Jane following behind. She pushed open the front door to the house which looked more like a shack than anything else. Cho entered the building, gun levelled infront of him, only to be greeted with another body and a broken window to his right where the murderer had just escaped and they had no chance of catching them. Lisbon and Jane entered the house and guns were returned to holsters. "Someone killed him too keep him silent. Someone he knew who possible cared about him. It was a mercy shot in the back of the head, killing instantly." Jane said, noticing Lisbon's annoyance at another dead body.

"Killer only fled through that window, didn't come in that way; the broken glass is only outside indication the force was put in that direction." Cho added.

"Fresh body, we'll look in here Cho, go outside and call it in, look for anything outside the house, anything that could point to someone else." Lisbon ordered. Time for stage two of the scheme she thought to herself as a wicked grin spread across her face.

Jane was crouched on the floor, currently sniffing the body and identifying the second victim. "This is our guy." he said as he rolled up the victim's sleeve to reveal a matching dragon tattoo with 'Jason Michaels' written underneath. Lisbon mearly nodded whilst trying to gather her nerve, she was not going to back out now.

She began walking round the room 'looking for evidence' when she spotted her chance. A loose floorboard, brilliant! She continued to walk around the room and across to the protruding wood. Upon reaching her destination she let out a small cry and fell, hurtling towards and unexacting Jane who was still looking at the body. She fell flat on her front ontop of his chest. Both sprawled out across the scene, face to face. She hadn't even bothered to cushion her fall so she was as close to him as possible. He looked up at her, his eyes glowing, his breathing rate increased dramatically as her warm breath tickled his nose and brushed across his lips. She stared at him intently, her warmth mingling with his. She closed her eyes and leaned in, her lips brushing his, he did the same. Their lips touched momentarily, just in contact, Jane closed the rest of the minuscule distance, and placed a light peck on her lips. The moment was just too perfect. He was about to kiss her again when he heard Cho finish on the phone, and scrambled up. "Are you ok?" he asked with genuine concern. Lisbon got up rather more gracefully but looked more disappointed, wondering why he's suddenly got up. "Uhhh, yeah, I'm fine, thankyou for cushioning my fall Jane." she added, trying to lighten the mood; she didn't look at him though, she had flushed a deep scarlet from their second closer encounter. If she did this every time, what shade of red was she going to go later?

Then it hit her. Vanessa. 


	5. Chapter 5

In a Perfect World

Chapter 5: It Always Goes Down With A Bang

Author's Note: Slightly shorter chapter, but it seemed an appropriate place to stop. If you're a little squeamish about blood, I'd tread carefully with this chapter. Thank you all so much for your reviews. If you want the next chapter up fast, which you will, REVIEW! I do accept anonymous reviews, so that's not an excuse! :P

Love, Ruby xx

DISCLAIMER: Bruno rejected my offer of my savings, so I guess that means I still don't own anything :/

"Roduiguez has two known associates. A sister, Kelly, who he's in regular contact with, and her boyfriend Billy. They're both down at CBI so when we get there, if you could join Rigsby in questioning Billy please Cho; Jane, you join Van Pelt with Kelly." Jane and Cho nodded as Lisbon gave them their instructions after leaving the forensics team in charge of the scene.

The atmosphere in the SUV was so thick Jane thought he could've cut through it with a knife. What had he done? He'd kissed Lisbon as he held her tightly to his body after she fell on him. He didn't even want to think about what would've happened if Cho wasn't there. He'd now made a right mess of things, he needed to get rid of Vanessa quickly and he just knew the 'it didn't quite work out' excuse would cut it with his fellow team members. At least they hadn't had any contact with the other team yet. Shit, the meeting later, thy were all supposed to attend so both teams could display their findings. This was getting too complicated for Jane's love-clouded mind. He had to do something soon.

Jane, Lisbon and Cho jumped at the sudden bang of a tire blowing, followed by a second, a third, and finally a fourth. That was when Lisbon screamed, "Get out of the car and stay low!" It was an ambush and the gang had shot out all four tires of the vehicle leaving them stranded at the edge of a forest. Within no time at all, bullets were flying in all directiong, Cho and Lisbon shooting at half a dozen well built men with high calibre rifels. Jane crouched to the side of the vehicle and called for back up. The attack had taken them all unaware so each one was in shock, Lisbon took out 3 of the men with well aimed, or lucky, kill shots to the chest, Cho did the same with two others, leaving only one; but with no sight of him, they assumed he'd run so deemed it safe to stand up again.

Cho sat back in the SUV and began reading his book again, Lisbon moved to walk around the edge of the car and Jane shakily stood up to follow her. She turned and began waking around the front of the SUV when she felt a warm hand grip her wrist and softly tug her backwards. She was about to turn around and ask Jane what he wanted when a shot was fired. The bullet narrowly missed Lisbon's body, hitting her upper arm instead. She let out a cry of pain before grabbing her gun and shooting the final man.

All colour drained from Jane's face as blood began to pour from Lisbon's arm at an alarming rate. Cho had lept out of the SUV and called for a paramedic urgently. They had no ability to get the the hospital so Jane sat Lisbon in his lap, took of his jacket, rolled it up and tied it tightly around the wound. The bullet had gone straight through, meanng more and more blood was trickling out fo his beloved Teresa by the second. She winced at the pain when he tied the jacket around her arm in a desperate attempt to stem the bloody flow. Cho knew from his vast experience that there was nothing more they could do.

Lisbon was wrapped tightly in Jane's arms as he cradled her, hoping that the paramedics would be here soon and get her to a hospital soon. It was and incredible amount of blood she was losing, his vest and shirt were not getting stained as the jacket was not able to stall the blood flow. "Teresa, look at me." he said, his eyes glistening with tears that fell when he blinked.

"Patrick..." she managed, he voice weak and wavering.

"STAY WITH ME TERESA!" he screamed as the colour began to drain from her face. So much blood, such a small Teresa. Would the paramedics hurry up already. "Teresa, stay with me honey, please!" he whispered, his face stained with tears as she grew weaker in his arms. She lifted her hand to his face and grazed his cheek with her fingertips, "Pat-trick, I-" she wavered, before finally giving into the call of unconsciousness that beckoned her away from the pain in her arm, and the burning heat from his body. "Teresa? TERESA!" he cried, panicking as her hand dropped from his face.

The tears we're falling quite freely as the paramedics arrived and took her from his grasp. "I want to go with her." he demanded.

"I'm sorry, Mr Jane, but Miss Lisbon needs to get the the hospital as soon as possible and she needs urgent medical attention. I'm afraid I can't let you come unless you're a state agent." the paramedic repeated. Jane was half tempted to hypnotise him, but that would take time, valuable time that could save his Teresa's life. "Look, buddy. mr Jane's with us, just let him go with her and you'll save yourself a lot of future hassle." Cho interviened, looking as menacing as he could, arms crossed infront of his chest as Rigsby assumed the same stance behind him and looked down upon the smaller paramedic. The paramedic looked visibly shaken at the threat posed by the two male agents. "Alright, jump in then." he said to Jane. "Just don't get in the way and let my guys do their work." He hadn't even finished talking when Jane was already in the back of the ambulance clutching Teresa's hand. Within seconds the ambulance was off, hurtling towards the hospital in a race to save Lisbon's life. 


	6. Chapter 6

In a Perfect World

Chapter 6: Confession

Author's Note: This chapter's slightly longer than the others as I do t think I'll be posting a chapter tomorrow, I'm kinda REALLY busy :S Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one!

Love, Ruby xx

DISCLAIMER: Don't own the Mentalist still :/ but I do have a new flute and I'm dead chuffed! ;)

Cho turned around after the amublulence sped off into the distance to see Rigsby and Van Pelt, that would explain why the paramedic caved to his demand. "You ok?" asked the taller agent who was genuinelly concerned for Cho, as for Van Pelt, well, she was speechless. "I'm fine." Cho quickly dismissed the question and took over the scene. "Right, we've got 6 bodies, I want IDs and background checks on all of them. I want the scene swept and any findings sent to me at CBI." Cho was very good at taking over in times of stress. "Shit, there's that bloody meeting with counterfeitting later." he said, half to himself, half to his fellow agents.

"Don't worry about it Cho, the other team know and we've rescheduled the meeting for tomorrow morning. After all, I don't think any of us are really in the right mind to display any of our findings at this moment in time." Rigsby replied in a comforting manner, Grace was just stood staring at the large pool of Lisbon's blood on the side of the road, the sight of it made her stomach churn.

Jane couldn't remember any details. All he knew was that Lisbon got shot because he just HAD to reach out and grab her wrist. He was planning to tug her back, bringing her into a mind-blowing kiss and declare everything to her there and then. Instead, Teresa Lisbon had bled out in his arms and was now in surgery fighting for her life.

A fair number of people had told him to go home by now, he'd lost count at about fifteen. He looked down at his suit, his vest now less grey and more of a dark marroon colour, his previously pristine whit shirt still hadn't dried and remained a bright red, both serving as a reminder of what had happened; and all because of him.

It was getting late and he probably should've gone home, showered and changed by now, but he couldn't stand the thought of not being there when his Teresa came out of surgery. He would be the first to see her. She WOULD survive, HAD to survive. There was no question about it; he would die without Teresa Lisbon.

He'd been sat in the same uncomfortable waiting room chair since they arrived at the hospital which was over 5 hours ago by now. The team had popped in originally to see how he was doing, but he dismissed their faffing and told them to go home as it was getting late. At least they all knew when not to argue with the great Patrick Jane. Sleep was now creeping up on him; soon he would have to succumb to the restless darkness that threatened to swallow him.

When Jane next awoke, it was light outside, he must've slept for about 4 hours. His next thoughts turned to Lisbon, she should be out of surgery now. His stomach churned and he felt ill. What if she didn't make it? It would be all his fault. He had to find out so he got up and went to the hospital reception. "Ummm, is Teresa Lisbon out of surgery yet?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly, displaying his nerves.

"Second door on the right. You must be Mr Jane, the other nurses told me you'd probably want to see her. She's still critical, but stable. We haven't put her in a coma, but she's on an awful lot of pain relief, she might be awake, she might not." said the young nurse from behind the counter, offering a weak smile. "Thank you so much!" Jane replied, with thoughts racing through his head. She was alive! This was briliant!

He found the room quickly with a sound-asleep Lisbon in a hospital bed, hooked up to numerous machines. The steady beep of the cardiac monitor reassured Jane that she was alive.

The team stopped by at about 4am with a fresh suit for Jane. They stayed and made small talk a while, and tried to get more information about the case from him, but Jane didn't really seem in the mood to discuss the case too much. That only made the meeting more difficult lately. Their only findings were two bodies and a now dead gang.

"Vanessa's not going to be there later." Jane finally said, choosing to bite the bullet before the team asked.

"Jane, is everything ok?" Grace asked with caution knowing Jane's emotions were more than a little raw on this occasion. Jane looked up at Van Pelt who gave him a weak smile, which he returned.

"Thank you for your concern, Grace. All of you, in fact. I'm just sorry I can't be of more use to you at the moment." he said, glancing at Lisbon and clutching her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. The team knew better than to ask questions, but the more they observed, the more likely it became that Vanessa was just a gimmick.

it had been three hours since his fellow team-mates had left, they'd be preparing for their 10:00 meeting now. Jane thought of Cho at his desk, grasping at straws for any evidence that would point them towards the killer; Rigsby and Van Pelt in the kitchen area making drinks. He's rung Cho back about an hour ago to say that the murders were most likely linked, and the murderer close to Roduiguez and having a grudge against Michaels, that was all he could give them. Quite a pitiful amount of information really, considering by now he would normally have the whole thing wrapped up and a plan under way. This one had just been a little different, his Teresa nearly lost her life. The thought alone nearly gave him a panic attack.

Jane was disrupted from his thoughts by a faint tugging on his arm. "Patrick, what are you doing here?" croaked a weary and weak voice. It was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard in his life as far as he was concerned.

"TERESA!" he jumped up and leant over her, bringing her into a gentle embrace that he hoped said everything he needed to say from 'sorry' to 'I love you more than anything'.

"I'm so glad you're alive! You nearly didn't make it..." his eyes welled up with tears.

"It's ok, it's ok. I'm here Jane, I'm here." she said, soothing him, whilst softly squeezing his hand which was interlocked with hers on the side of the bed.

"Oh God. I'm so sorry Teresa, for everything. For the shot, for Vanessa... For everything." he blurted out, his mind overwhelmed with emotions. It took a few moments for Lisbon to digest the whole thing. For Vanessa? What on earth did he mean? "I don't understand." she said. "You didnt ask for me to get shot... And what do you mean 'for Vanessa'?"

Lisbon was clearly confused, Jane could see it in her eyes. He knew the team were suspicious, but he was glad they didn't push it, but Lisbon seemed blissfully unaware. "Oh, you really- oh..." Jane really was shocked. His eyes averted Lisbon's, he couldn't look at her, he knew he's hurt her. From the moment she fell on him and they kissed, he knew he'd hurt her big time. "I don't really know what to say. But before I do, promise me one thing." he knew it was selfish, but he couldn't risk losing her. "Promise me you'll forgive me." he said, locking her gaze when he said the latter part.

"I've forgiven you for all your other pranks, tricks and idiocies, so why would this one be any different?" Lisbon replied, desperately trying to lighten the mood.

"Because this one played with your heart Teresa, it genuinely hurt you, and I can see that. I just want you to know that hurting you was never one of my aims. I never want to hurt you Teresa." Lisbon didn't know what to say, words just froze on her tongue so she nodded instead. "I know I've been a prat before, but this tops everything." He turned on his seat to full face Lisbon and took both of her smaller hands in his larger ones. "Vanessa..." he began, "Vanessa is- was..." he faltered a little, trying to form words but failing miserably. "Vanessa was my wife, Lisbon. I just changed her name. I needed a way to diffuse some of the female attention I was getting; I just wasn't ready for that kind of response. I'm sorry."

Lisbon just stared at him completely and utterly bemused. 


	7. Chapter 7

In A Perfect World

Chapter 7: I should've said long ago...

Author's Note Another chapter! Aren't you lucky? The only reason your reading this is because I have chronic insomnia at the moment, so sorry about any typos! And because I've been up all night writing this, would you be so kind as to drop me a review? :P

Love, Ruby xx

DISCALIMER: Still don't own the Mentalist, but I have done my A level prep work! :P

Previous Chapter:"Because this one played with your heart Teresa, it genuinely hurt you, and I can see that. I just want you to know that hurting you was never one of my aims. I never want to hurt you Teresa." Lisbon didn't know what to say, words just froze on her tongue so she nodded instead. "I know I've been a prat before, but this tops everything." He turned on his seat to full face Lisbon and took both of her smaller hands in his larger ones. "Vanessa..." he began, "Vanessa is- was..." he faltered a little, trying to form words but failing miserably. "Vanessa was my wife, Lisbon. I just changed her name. I needed a way to diffuse some of the female attention I was getting; I just wasn't ready for that kind of response. I'm sorry."

Lisbon just stared at him completely and utterly bemused.

"I- I don't know what to say Jane-"

"Then don't." he said, his eyes glistening with tears caused by the shear intensity of the emotions he was feeling that were bubbling to the surface.

She squeezed his hands with hers, a sign that she understood him, and offered him a weak smile. He lean into her, a few stray tears trickled down his face as he reached into the front pocket in his waistcoat. Lisbon's eyes widened as she watched him pull out three pictures from the poctet.

"I always keep them close to my heart," he said showing Lisbon the picture of him and his wife stood under a silver birch tree, both with matching ear-to-ear smiles. The well-thumbed picture was moved to the back of the pile, revealing a dazzling little girl; this one she distinctly recognised. Jane was sat on the floor building a Lego tower with the young girl. "This was taken a few days before- before-" he choked on his own words, Lisbon tightened her hold on Jane, she would always be there for him. The final picture was a family photo, but not of the standard predisposed type; it was in a natural setting. Jane, Angela and Charlotte all stood around the stove making some sort of cake. Charlotte was covered in chocolatey cake mix with a bright, slightly gappy smile, whilst Jane and his wife were laughing at the sticky mess their daughter had gotten herself in.

Lisbon just stared in awe at Jane; he'd never opened up like this before. If anything, this made her heart warm and love him more, if that was even possible.

The meeting had commenced at CBI, and the SCU were not doing overly well. Counterfeitting were more than a little irritated after finding out that half the gang they'd been trailing for months were currently residing in the morgue. Cho was beginning to sweat a little; then Jane appeared.

"I've solved the case!" he exclaimed. "I just need a small check to get the name of the killer and I'm 100% positive I've got it!" he seemed genuinely pleased with himself.

"Do you mind, Mr Jane. We're having an important meeting here. Although it's rather disappointing that half our case is now dead due to your-" Julie was quite abruptly cut off at that point.

"Half of your case is dead because they shot at Teresa! She nearly lost her life to those bastards. The fact remains that if you'd have just looked at the information you have in that file of yours, you'd have solved the case my now and she wouldn't have been fighting for her life in surgery just over six hours ago!" Jane spat.

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is." he countered.

"Well, if you think you're so good, why don't you take a look yourself?" Julie said, her team behind her shocked into submission.

"Don't mind if I do." Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt let a slight smirk slip onto their faces as Jane raked through the file. Stupid cow. Of course Jane could find the leader and their killer, she did not know who she was dealing with.

"How about the sister. Have you interviewed the sister?" he asked and looked at them with a slightly condescending expression. "No, of course you haven't." he snarled. "I want Kelly Roduiguez in for questioning ASAP." he said, then turned and left. God, Cho loved Jane at moments like these. He got up, nodded at Julie and her team, and followed Jane out into the bullpen; the others did the same.

"Hey Jane; thanks." The Asian said as he looked at Jane who was lead on his brown sofa again, clearly deep in thought.

"Meh." The blond consultant said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Just bring in the sister, she's guilty of murder and counterfeitting. Jeeze, do people ever read the statements given by people these days?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else.

Within two hours the sister had been bought in and questioned by Jane and Cho. She didn't last long, quickly admitting that she and her partner, Billy, had run up massive debts of well over $100,000 with no way out, so they took to counterfeiting the money. Samuel Roduiguez had found out, but not said anything. But when Jason Michael's girlfriend had died, Kelly's bestfriend, she had assumed that it was the stress of living with Jason that killed her. She stated that Jason was autistic, and that his girlfriend visited regularly when she found Jason difficult to live with, and upon the suggestion that she should leave Jason, she left and never returned. Kelly had found this infuriating and saw it as Jason taking away the only real friend she had, so she killed him out of revenge after finding out about her friend's death.

Her brother quickly found out about this and threatened to call the police and hand her over for killing his childhood friend who'd done nothing wrong. He'd told her she'd made the worst decision in her life and she'd been irrational and evil. And at that, she shot him. 'What a pleasant woman' Jane had thought.

With the case wrapped up, the team took their opportunity to question Jane's supposed love life... 


	8. Chapter 8

In a Perfect World

Chapter 8: Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy

Author's Note: *Cries* This might just be the last chapter, my dear readers :'(. Unless you ask for more that is! However, never fear! I have a one-shot in the works ;) i have to make a quick appology about my appalling formatting, i will correct it for any furture stories! I would also like ti say that i'm flattered by all of your reviews *blushes*! Anyway, enjoy the ending to my first ever fanfiction and REVIEW!.

Love, Ruby xx

DISCLAIMER: Oh how I wish I owned the Mentalist... Do you think Bruno would accept my savings, all £3.41 of them? :P

"Jane." The team approached Lisbon's office and tentatively pushed at the door. Lisbon wasn't allowed out of the hospital yet, they wanted to keep an eye on her. Cho peered into her office to see Jane sat in his bosses chair, spinning around behind her desk. "You know what Cho. I've always wanted to do this!" he said with a smile on his face. So childish. "Whatever you want to ask me, come in and ask. All of you." he said, knowing full well what they wanted to know. The younger agents sheepishly stepped into the office and took a seat infront of Lisbon's desk; infront of Jane.

"Jane, we want- we want to know about-" Van Pelt began, but was interrupted by Jane.

"Vanessa. You want to know about Vanessa. I know. You think she's just a cover for something, am I right?" he asked, less of a question, more of a statement. The team stared back at him, blankly. "Thought so. Well I'm here to tell you that your absolutely right, there's no point in lying to you any more."

The agents sat in an awkward silence, looking from on to another. Jane seemed completely at ease with the situation, although they all knew he wasn't; he was nervous as hell.

"That photo," he began, voice cracking a little, "it's one of my wife. Here... Here are the others." he said showing the team the same photos as he had Lisbon. He knew the team wouldn't say anything, they were expecting him to put up a fight. "I set up Vanessa because I couldn't cope. I couldn't cope with numerous women who meant nothing to me, just throwing themselves at me in some sort of hope of sexual congress. This seemed to stunt the flow, so to speak, so I kept it up. It was only when I realised the harm I was doing that I knew I needed to tell you."

"Jane, you didn't have to." Rigsby said as they got up to leave, placing a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

"You're wrong, Rigsby. I did. I had to finish what I started." He looked up at the taller man and smiled weakly, earning a considerate nod in return. He really should check up on Lisbon.

"Right. Where's Jane?" called a familiar voice. Speak of the devil... "Jane, get the hell out of my chair!" said the petite brunette. She had a large support on her shoulder that was all bandaged up. She looked better than she had earlier though.

"Make me Lisbon!" he retorted; some things never change.

"Jane, get up now or I'll-"

"Or you'll what, Teresa?" Jane said, an impish grin spreading across his face.

"I'll just have to make you!"

She stepped closer to him, both their breathing rates increased. She cupped his face in her hands and looked into his perfect blue eyes and pressed her lips to his. The soft feeling of his lips made him emit a gentle hum in appreciation as she deepend the kiss. She tried to pull away, but Jane's lips eagerly followed hers as she stood up, forcing him to stand also.

She broke the contact so quickly, Jane didn't even notice her slip behind him to sit back in her chair. He turned around to see her, both their faces flushed and giggling. "That wasn't nice Teresa!" he whined.

"Awhh, poor Jane. I guess I'll just have to make it better then, won't I?" she replied with an impish smile and a wink that said everything.

He bent down to kneel infront of her so they were eye to eye, taking both of her hands in his.

"I love you, Teresa." 


End file.
